Enric Ruiz-Geli.

Artist in Residence at Shillim

Medium: Architecture

Year: 2019​

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Enric, and his class of architecture students from the AA School of Architecture, approached Shillim as a “living lab” blending academic studio practice with professional work. The team initially expected to design a conventional masterplan proposal, but immersion quickly dissolved that brief. Daily practices of walking, mapping by foot, silence, yoga, and attentive observation became core design methods, allowing “wildness” to operate as a cognitive catalyst that reshaped perception and scope.

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A critical turning point came when the team confronted stark social inequities between luxury tourism and the living conditions of resort workers. This shifted the project from green aesthetics toward activism and social justice, leading them to negotiate directly with management about housing conditions. Throughout their residency, Enric emphasized multi-scalar thinking—from pollen to resort footprint—and rejected static master planning in favor of temporal, responsive systems shaped by morning, night, and seasonal change. 

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The culminating work was a biomimetic pavilion-cocoon. Made of biodegradable tape with embedded seeds, the structure embraces decay and time-based transformation. The cocoon itself became a theatre, for people to crawl through and interact with, emphasizing that architecture is a performance rather than a static object.​​​​